This pain is just too real
by Alicia Mirza
Summary: It is hard to lose those you love. Cho knows this well. She doesn't know how to be herself after the death of Cedric. A romantic, slightly angsty one-shot written for InLoveWithLaughing's Triwizard Competition. Cho/Cedric


**This one-shot was written for: Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges - InLoveWithLaughing: Triwizard Competition**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series, all rights go to J.K. Rowling.**

This pain is just too real

She sat alone under the tree with her eyes fixed on the Black Lake. However, she didn't see much, her sight was blurred by the sea of tears. She ran her hands through her hair, she crossed her arms, she wiped away some tears in hope of calming herself down a bit, but it was no use. Nothing could help her; the only person who could have healed her wounds has left the World. He left her, he died.

When she heard her best friend's approaching voice she closed her eyes for a moment and after she left out a desperate sigh she stood up.

"Cho, come on, we have a Potions lesson to attend," Marietta Edgecombe told her friend who only nodded wordlessly so the strawberry blond girl sighed.

"It's Cedric, isn't it?" she asked softly, but Cho didn't answer, she only started walking in the direction of the castle. Marietta caught up with her and tried to make her talk at least.

"I'm here you know, you can talk to me whenever you want. You need to know that Cedric wouldn't want you to be in a state like this. He would want you to be happy," Cho's friend told her seriously and the mentioned girl stopped and fixed brown eyes on Marietta.

"How would you know that? He is dead. He doesn't exist anymore. He has gone," she snapped and wiped a traitor tear from the edge of her eyes. She started running and she left her dumbfounded friend behind. She ran through the ground of Hogwarts and she only slowed a bit down when she reached the oak door. She knew that there were at least ten better ways to reach the place she needed to visit, but she didn't have strength to think. So she went after her instincts, she chose the path which came into her mind at the first hand. She was happy that she hasn't met anyone when she climbed the stairs. She didn't look around, she didn't care about the portraits who were watching her, no; she was just running without thinking. She nearly missed the third floor, but then she noticed her environment and realized that she has reached the right level. She quickly found the entrance of the clock Tower and reached the courtyard.

The Courtyard seemed empty which didn't surprise Cho as most of students were already at their class. She considered going to Potions, it wouldn't have been hard, there were so many ways to reach it and she could have just turn around and go down to the Dungeons. However, she was already at the Wooden Bridge, she was so close. So, she didn't care about the fact that Snape was surely going to give detention to her and she didn't care that she was skipping a class. She only cared about the fact that at the end of the covered bridge the sundial was still standing.

She was tired emotionally and exhausted physically but she ran trough the bridge as fast as she could. Her view was blurred once again, she could hardly breath, but she didn't stop, nor did the slow down. When she reached the end of the bridge she stopped, so suddenly that she nearly tripped over her on feet. She sighed and fixed her eyes on the sight in front of her. The giant stones were still standing just like they did nearly a year ago. Not a lot of things have changed, it was nearly the same and only the weather was nicer now. It was still early autumn, September has hardly started and the nature hasn't realized yet that the summer was already gone. She made some small, uncertain step until she reached the middle of the circle and she lay down. It was like nothing has changed, but in fact nothing was the same anymore.

She closed her eyes and relived that day. It was a sunny afternoon and although the temperature was already low, she didn't care. Ever since her first year, it was her favourite place in the whole Ground of Hogwarts. She wasn't sure why she liked it so much, but she always thought that sundial seemed to radiate magic. When she told that to Marietta in their first year, her friend laughed at her, since then she never mentioned it and it was always her place.

She visited it whenever she wanted to be alone. However, it all changed nearly a year ago. The Yule ball was just announced and the whole school was excited. All she heard from her friends was who was going with whom, how handsome that Hufflepuff student was and how immature that Slytherin boy was. Everything was about boys and dates, she had enough. That's how she ended up in the circle that day; she wanted to be alone, far from the problem of boys.

Actually it didn't go well as a boy actually found her. It was already cold to sit down on the ground so she just leaned against one of the stones and she read her Transfiguration book. She was concentrating on a really hard spell, which she still couldn't learn when she heard the voice.

"It's nice here," the masculine tone said and Cho looked up and noticed the bright grey eyes of Cedric Diggory, one of the champions of Hogwarts, a sixth year Hufflepuff.

"It is," she nodded but she was still focused on her book.

"You often spend time here?" he asked and once again the girl fixed her brown eyes on him.

"Yes, I like it here," she said simply and probably she would have continued reading if the cursing of the boy in front of her in low voice didn't disturb her. She looked curiously at the boy and raised her eyebrows.

"Excuse me?" she asked and the handsome dark-haired boy blushed a bit and didn't look at her.

"This is harder than I thought it would be," he muttered, but he was too loud and Cho caught what he has just said.

"Yes, being a champion must be hard. However, the true champions aren't always the ones that win, but those with the most guts," she said kindly, but seriously and the boy blushed even more.

"That wasn't what I meant actually," he said a bit embarrassedly. Cho had no idea what Cedric was talking about but it seemed that the boy wasn't going to leave her alone in the near future so she put her Transfiguration book in her bag and focused on the boy in front of her.

"Sorry, but I'm lost. What are we exactly talking about?" she asked curiously after a moment of silence.

"Oh, Merlin's pants, why is it so hard?" Cedric ran his hand trough his thick dark hair and fixed his bright grey eyes on Cho who was standing in front of him with crossed arms and raised eyebrows.

"You shouldn't blame your problem on poor Merlin's underwear, maybe he was only a Slytherin, but he didn't do anything bad to you. However, I'm really curious what I have to do with your problem," she stated as the boy in front of her still didn't say anything normal besides the small talk they have had when he arrived.

"I would face a Swedish Short-Snout happily now," he muttered and if it was possible Cho raised her eyebrows even higher.

"Maybe you should work on speaking so low that no one understands what you say. I suggest it, it would spare you from many awkward and embarrassing situations," the girl from Ravenclaw said to the boy who was very embarrassed at the moment.

"Sorry," he said slowly and Cho rolled her eyes.

"Could you please be so kind to tell me what's going on?" she asked tiredly and Cedric sighed.

"Sorry, I thought that I'm good with girls and I have been very wrong," he said apologetically.

"You will be forgiven if you tell me why you are here," Cho said simply and she smiled a bit at the uncomfortable boy.

"Well, you know how the Yule Ball is coming up?" Cedric asked the girl curiously who nodded.

"It's hard to miss as now that's the only topic which is discussed in the whole school," the Ravenclaw pointed out and the champion of Hogwarts nodded in agreement.

"As a champion, I must dance... with a partner," he said and even though Cho understood it eventually what was going on she played dumb.

"It's hard to dance a ballroom dance alone," she said in fake seriousness.

"I was thinking... Do you have a partner?" Cedric asked suddenly and Cho chuckled.

"No, I don't have," she said simply with a smile playing on her lips and the Hufflepuff flashed her perfect smile.

"Will you be my partner?" he asked curiously and nervously and Cho seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"If you leave that poor Merlin bloke and his pants alone," she said eventually with a smile and Cedric laughed.

"I promise," he said and Cho smiled.

"Then I will be happy to attend the Yule Ball with you," she said and the dark-haired boy grinned.

Cho opened her eyes again and sighed. How could everything go wrong? Why was Cedric killed? Why was he dead? Why did he leave her alone?

When he asked her out he took her heart with him. The problem was that he never gave it back to Cho. The loss of Cedric broke her heart and she wasn't sure if someone could ever heal her wounds.

"Of course you are here," Cho looked up when she heard her best friend's voice. The strawberry blonde-haired girl leaned against one of the stones much like Cho did a year ago.

"You won't answer me, will you?" Marietta sighed and looked at her friend who was still lying on the ground in the middle of the circle. Cho slowly sat up and got up. She approached her friend and fixed her brown eyes on her.

"It's... It's just too much for me, Mary," she said and she was close to sobbing once again. Her friend looked at Cho, her eyes full of sympathy.

"It is going to be better. Time helps," she said softly, but Cho shook her head.

"These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real and there's just too much that time cannot erase," she said angrily and tiredly. Marietta did the only thing she could; she reached out for her friend and hugged her. She held her tightly and tried to calm her down a bit.

"Everything is going to be alright," Marietta said softly when she let her friend.

"How do you know that?" Cho snapped a bit once again. The strawberry blond girl didn't answer. This scene was just too similar to the one next to the lake earlier that day. She ruined everything when she answered her, maybe Cho would calm down if she didn't anger her more.

"If Harry is right, Cedric was killed because of You-know-who is back. If it is true, another war might come. Mary, another war would mean at least hundreds of more victims and sacrifices like Cedric. How can you say that everything is going to be alright?" Cho asked as she was overwhelmed. Marietta was just standing her crying, furious friend who was close to breaking down.

"Okay, I don't know. You are right, maybe this was just the beginning. However, I'm sure that this isn't the end. You have to let Cedric go, you have to move over or you will lose even more, Cho. Don't push everyone away or you won't have anyone," Marietta answered her friend who was surprised by her similar tone and honest, slightly hurtful words.

"What do you mean?" Cho asked suddenly and Marietta sighed.

"Memories can be hurtful, try to forget them. Try to understand that Cedric won't come back whatever you do. He is gone, deal with it or you will lose everyone else too. Try to live in the present and live for the future not for the past," Cho's friend said and she left her there just like Cho did back at the lake. The Ravenclaw student watched as her friend was walking back to the Castle and she sighed.

She knew that Marietta was right. However, that didn't mean that she was capable of what doing what was suggested to her. She was broken and she wasn't sure she could be fixed.

She needed Cedric.

She wanted him back.


End file.
